Method and apparatus for effecting replacement of cans in spinning frame

ABSTRACT

Two rows of cans, the number of which corresponds to half of the number of spinning units in a spinning frame, are arranged along each side of the spinning frame, with the inside cans half full of slivers and the outside cans full of slivers before starting the operation. Slightly before the slivers in the inside cans are used up, their ends are pieced with the slivers in full cans previously supplied in their standing-by positions backwardly of the outside row of cans. The empty cans in the inside row are moved inwardly onto a conveyer between the inside can rows and then the cans in the outside row, which are now half full of the slivers, are moved in the inside row and the cans in the standing-by positions are also moved in the outside row. The empty cans on the conveyer can be removed out of the spinning machine by driving the conveyer.

United States Patent 1 1 [111 3,884,026

Yoshizawa et a]. May 20, 1975 [54] METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR 3,648,450 3/1972 Prochazka et al. 57/58.89 EFFECTING REPLACEMENT OF CANS IN 3,716,979 2/1973 Handschush et a1. 57/34 R SPINNING FRAME Primary ExaminerJohn W. Huckert [75] Inventors. Toshlo Yoshlzawa, Chlryu, Yasuo Assistant Examiner chafles Gorenstein Yamaqa; Toshmon Tamguch" both Attorney, Agent, or FirmWenderoth, Lind & Ponack of Kanya, all of Japan [73] Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyoda Jidoshokki Seisakusho, Kariya, [57] ABSTRACT Japan Two rows of cans, the number of which corresponds [22] Filed, Oct 12 1973 to half of the number of spinning units in a spinning frame, are arranged along each side of the spinning [21] Appl. N0.: 406,177 frame, with the inside cans half full of slivers and the outside cans full of slivers before starting the operation. Slightly before the slivers in the inside cans are [30] Fore'gn Application Pmmty Data used up, their ends are pieced with the slivers in full Oct. 19, 1972 Japan 47-104734 Cans previously Supplied in their Standingby positions backwardly of the outside row of cans. The empty [52] US. Cl 57/34 R; 19/159 A; 57/156 cans in the inside row are moved inwardly onto a com [51] I11. CI D011] 9/00 veyer between the inside can rows d then the cans [581 Fleld Search 57/34 52, 54, 90, in the outside row, which are now half full of the sliv- 57/58 l R; 19/159 A ers, are moved in the inside row and the cans in the standing-by positions are also moved in the outside [56] References Cited row. The empty cans on the conveyer can be removed UNITED TA E AT out of the spinning machine by driving the conveyer. 3,125,782 3/1964 Kaino et a1. 19/159 A 8 Cl 3 D F, 3,199,152 8/1965 Tooka et al 19/159 A alms rawlng lgures V l /1 l r 1 1 l d r\ O O 0 c- (1 or (51%;. Q' 111 1 1111 1 U y 5 AUTO- DRIVE COUNTER MEANS 1 1 n sew gmzmvs SHEET 2 OF 2 Aqi ll: ILFI IIIIIIZIVII FIG.

1 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING REPLACEMENT OF CANS IN SPINNING FRAME BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for effecting replacement of cans in a spinning frame of the type wherein drawing frame slivers accommodated in the cans are directly supplied to spinning units of the spinning frame.

Recently, the spinnability of a spinning frame has been greatly improved and it has been made possible to spin a bundle of sliver-like fibers into a length of yarn by a single process. Therefore, it has been spotlighted to directly supply cans, in which slivers are accommodated during a drawing process, to the spinning frame.

With one prior arrangement, the cans were adapted to be mounted on the upper portion of the spinning frame. This arrangement is disadvantageous in that the work of replacement of the can is not accomplished in a simple manner and particularly in an automatic manner. A

A further arrangement has been proposed to eliminate the abovedescribed disadvantage, which further arrangement is adapted to supply slivers to spinning units of the spinning frame from the sliver containing cans arranged on the floor of the mill. However, in this case, it is not possible to arrange the cans, the number of which corresponds to the number of the spinning units, in a row or rows parallel to the row or rows of the spinning units since each spacing between the adjacent spinning units in the same row is very narrow relative to the can diameter. Therefore, the cans must be arranged Zigzag or in multiple rows for each row of the spinning units, requiring a large space for disposing the cans, and there remains only a small space between the adjacent spinning frames.

In order to employ an automatic can circulation systern wherein conveying means are provided to operatively connect a group of spinning frames arranged in parallel with one another to a group of drawing frames to thereby allow the full cans to be conveyed from the drawing frames to the spinning frames and the empty cans to be conveyed from the spinning frames to the drawing frames, it is, of course, necessary to secure a sufficient space between each pair of the adjacent spinning frames for conveying the full and empty cans. However, where the cans are arranged Zigzag or in multiple rows as mentioned above, it is quite impossible to provide the wide space between each pair of the adjacent spinning frames for the conveyance of the empty and full cans. In addition, even if the space between the adjacent spinning frames is designed to be so wide as to allow the conveyance of the empty and full cans therethrough, there occurs further disadvantages of requiring a large area for installation of the spinning frames and consequently reducing the yarn productivity per unit installation area for the spinning frame. This impairs the merits of the aforementioned direct transportation of the cans between the drawing frame group and the spinning frame group.

Furthermore, in the known method of exchanging the empty cans, having the slivers therein wholly supplied to the spinning frames, for the full cans previously positioned between the adjacent spinning frames, it has been practised to remove the empty cans from the front of the spinning frame in a cross direction and to piece the trailing ends of the slivers in the empty cans with the corresponding leading ends of the slivers in the full cans and thereafter to move the full cans to the positions, which have been just occupied by the empty cans. This method requires a troublesome manual operation and a sufficient space between the adjacent spinning frames to detain the empty cans together with the full cans. It is therefore not possible to carry out the exchange of the cans in an automatic manner. Also, it is not possible to employ a complete automatic system for circulation of cans through a drawing frame group and a spinning frame group.

A primary object of this invention is therefore to provide a method and an apparatus for exchanging cans in a spinning frame automatically, thereby to establish a system for automatic circulation of the cans through a drawing frame group and a spinning frame group.

Another object of this invention is to provide a can exchanging method which reduces the floor space occupied by the cans between the adjacent spinning frames.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION With the above and further objects in view, according to the invention, two rows of cans are arranged along one side of a spinning frame to which slivers contained in the cans of said two rows are supplied simultaneously. In the vicinity of one of said two rows of the cans, a discharge path for the cans in said one row to be removed thereto are provided therealong and an additional row of cans full of slivers are previously ar' ranged on a supply path along the other of said two rows of the cans. When it is desired to exchange the cans, the cans in said one row are firstly moved onto the discharge path and then the cans in the other row are moved in said one row and the full cans on the supply path are moved in the other row, whereby the exchange of the cans is completed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be more understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an automatic can circulation system which connects a group of drawing frames with a group of spinning frames and in which the invention is embodied;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing an apparatus according to the invention; and

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a manner of exchanging the cans in the spinning frame.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings and particularly FIG. 1, there is shown a can circulation system comprising means 5 for conveying full cans a from a group of drawing frames 4 to a group of spinning frames 1 in a direction A, and means 6 for returning empty cans d from the spinning frame group 1 to the drawing frame group 4 as shown. Since the can circulation system is adapted to be balanced between the outputs of the drawing frame group 4 and the spinning frame group 1, there are a necessary number of the full cans a on the conveying means 5 to be exchanged with the empty cans in the spinning frames when autocounters 17 (only one being shown) of the spinning frames indicate the absence of slivers in the respective cans. In the case of the present invention, the full cans a, the number of which is half the number of cans installed in the spinning frames to which the slivers are supplied, are adapted to rest on can supply paths 15.

In FIG. 2, the cans b and c from which the slivers are supplied to the spinning frame 1 during spinning operation have to be arranged in two parallel rows along one side of the spinning frame 1 since the spacing between adjacent spinning units 1 1 is considerably small relative to the diameter of the can. The amounts of slivers contained in the cans 1) before starting of the spinning operation are substantially half as much as those contained in the cans c so that the cans b in the inside row always become emptied in advance of the cans c in the outside row being emptied. Therefore, the replacement of the cans can be accomplished, after the cans b in the inside row have became empty, by eliminating the empty cans b in the inside row therefrom and moving the cans c, which are now half full of the slivers, from the outside row onto the inside row and thereafter moving the full cans a on the can supply path onto the outside row.

It is noted that, in FIGS. 1 and 3, the empty can, the can full of the slivers and the can half full of the slivers are shown respectively by a circle, a whole hatched circle and a half hatched circle for convenience of the description.

The spinning frame 1 to which the replacement method of the invention is applied is formed under the spinning units 11 with a space 12 sufficient to accommodate a row of empty cans eliminated from the inside row. The empty cans within the space 12 are supported on a movable carrying out path 14 positioned slightly below the level of the floor 13. The carrying out path 14 is connected as shown in FIG. 1 to the empty can transportation means 6 to feed the empty cans back to the drawing frame group 4. Extending between the adjacent spinning frames is the full can supply path 15 which is connected through a leading means 9 to the full can transportation means 5. The movable supply path 15 may comprise an endless belt which is adapted to run in a direction B to place the full cans a along the front of the spinning frame when a call signal is issued from the auto-counter of the spinning frame.

The spinning frame shown in FIG. 2 is an open end spinning frame which can be easily so designed as to supply the slivers upwardly to the spinning units 11 and thereafter to further upward positions to be wound therein around bobbins and in which the space 12 can be effectively utilized to mount the cans. This causes the floor area which is to be occupied by the cans to be minimized. As the cans in the inside row do not always contain more than the half of the amount of slivers as contained in the cans in the outside row, the supply of the slivers in the cans in the inside row to the corresponding spinning units can be carried out without causing the cans to be obstructed by the top of the space 12 and without the necessity of forming the space 12 in a special large size.

In operation, slightly before the slivers in the cans b in the inside row are used up, the auto-counter 17 operates to issue the call signal which is transmitted to a driving means 19 for the full can supply path 15 to drive the latter in the direction B. At the same time, the leading means 9 operates to induce the full cans a from the full can transportation mean 5 onto the full can supply path 15. When the required number of the full cans a are brought on the supply path 15, the latter is stopped. Thereafter, the replacement of the cans are performed by piecing the leading ends of the slivers in the full cans on the supply path 15 with the trailing ends of some slivers remaining in the cans in the inside row, pushing the inside cans empty of the slivers onto the empty can carrying out path 14, moving the outside cans c substantially half full of the slivers to the inside row and moving the full cans a to the outside row. As described above, all the cans in the inside and outside rows and on the full can supply path can be moved in the same direction when effecting the replacement of the cans, so that the replacement operation is greatly simplified. For example, it is possible to allow an automatic replacement operation by uniting the cans in each row into units, each consisting of a suitable number of cans, and moving the units in place all at once through the use of a suitable driving means after the piecing. In this case, the circulation of cans through the driving frame group 4 and the spinning frame group 1 can also be effected by full automation.

In case where the spinning frame is provided along the opposite sides thereof with the spinning units 1 1 as in FIG. 2, each carrying out path 14 is preferably centrally disposed in the space 12, the carrying out path 14 being common to the cans on the opposite sides of the spinning frame to reduce the floor space. However, the carrying out path 14 may be provided for each row of the inside cans without missing the advantage of moving all the cans in the same direction upon the can replacement.

While the invention has been illustrated and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that various changes and rearrangements may be accomplished without depart ing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the apended claims.

What we claim is:

l. A method of effecting replacement of cans in a spinning frame of the type in which slivers contained in the cans are directly supplied to lined up spinning units of the spinning frame, which comprises, disposing the cans in inside and outside rows along the length of the spinning frame, the cans in the inside row containing about half as much slivers as the cans in the outside row, disposing a row of cans full of slivers backwardly of the outside cans therealong, the number of the full cans corresponding to that of the cans in one of the inside and outside rows, piecing the slivers in the full cans with the slivers in the cans in the inside row as the inside cans are ready to empty, removing the inside cans from the inside row inwardly onto a movable carrying out path arranged inside the inside row of the cans to extend along and out of the spinning frame, moving the outside cans inwardly into the inside row, and moving the full cans inwardly into the outside row.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which said full cans are disposed by actuating a movable supply path upon indication from an auto-counter.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2, which further comprises, transporting the empty cans on the carrying out path to a drawing frame to be filled with slivers and transporting the cans full of slivers from the drawing frame to the spinning frame.

4. An apparatus for replacement of cans in a spinning frame of the type in which slivers contained in the cans are directly supplied to lined up spinning units of the spinning frame, said apparatus comprising at least one first space for allowing the cans to be disposed in paired inside and outside rows along the length of the spinning frame, the cans in the inside row containing about half as much slivers as the cans in the outside row, a second space for allowing a row of cans full of slivers to be disposed backwardly of the outside cans therealong, the number of the full cans corresponding to that of the cans in one of the inside and outside rows, a third space provided in the lower part of the spinning frame for allowing the cans in the inside row to be received therein, said third space including a movable carrying out means arranged inside the inside row of the cans to extend along and out of the spinning frame, whereby the replacement of the cans is carried out by moving the inside cans in said first space onto said movable carrying out path of said third space after piecing the slivers in the full cans of said second space with the slivers in the cans in the inside row of said first space as the inside cans are ready to empty, moving the outside cans inwardly into the inside row within said first space, and moving the full cans of said second space inwardly into the outside row of said first space 5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein two first spaces are provided on the opposite sides of the spinning frame to be in communication with said third space and said movable carrying out means consists of a single conveyer centrally disposed in said third space.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein part of said first space is provided in the lower part of the spinning frame to reduce a floor area required for said first space.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein said movable carrying out path includes conveyer means connected with a group of drawing frames to convey the empty cans thereto.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said second space includes a movable full can supply path consisting of a conveyer which is associated with said conveying means connected with the drawing frame group to convey the full cans from the drawing frame group to the spinning frame group, whereby the cans are circulated through said first, second and third spaces, the drawing frame group and the spinning frame group. 

1. A method of effecting replacement of cans in a spinning frame of the type in which slivers contained in the cans are directly supplied to lined up spinning units of the spinning frame, which comprises, disposing the cans in inside and outside rows along the length of the spinning frame, the cans in the inside row containing about half as much slivers as the cans in the outside row, disposing a row of cans full of slivers backwardly of the outside cans therealong, the number of the full cans corresponding to that of the cans in one of the inside and outside rows, piecing the slivers in the full cans with the slivers in the cans in the inside row as the inside cans are ready to empty, removing the inside cans from the inside row inwardly onto a movable carrying out path arranged inside the inside row of the cans to extend along and out of the spinning frame, moving the outside cans inwardly into the inside row, and moving the full cans inwardly into the outside row.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which said full cans are disposed by actuating a movable supply path upon indication from an auto-counter.
 3. A method as claimed in claim 2, which further comprises, transporting the empty cans on the carrying out path to a drawing frame to be filled with slivers and transporting the cans full of slivers from the drawing frame to the spinning frame.
 4. An apparatus for replacement of cans in a spinning frame of the type in which slivers contained in the cans are directly supplied to lined up spinning units of the spinning frame, said apparatus comprising at least one first space for allowing the cans to be disposed in paired inside and outside rows along the length of the spinning frame, the cans in the inside row containing about half as much slivers as the cans in the outside row, a second space for allowing a row of cans full of slivers to be disposed backwardly of the outside cans therealong, the number of the full cans corresponding to that of the cans in one of the inside and outside rows, a third space provided in the lower part of the spinning frame for allowing the cans in the inside row to be received therein, said third space including a movable carrying out means arranged inside the inside row of the cans to extend along and out of the spinning frame, whereby the replacement of the cans is carried out by moving the inside cans in said firsT space onto said movable carrying out path of said third space after piecing the slivers in the full cans of said second space with the slivers in the cans in the inside row of said first space as the inside cans are ready to empty, moving the outside cans inwardly into the inside row within said first space, and moving the full cans of said second space inwardly into the outside row of said first space.
 5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein two first spaces are provided on the opposite sides of the spinning frame to be in communication with said third space and said movable carrying out means consists of a single conveyer centrally disposed in said third space.
 6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein part of said first space is provided in the lower part of the spinning frame to reduce a floor area required for said first space.
 7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein said movable carrying out path includes conveyer means connected with a group of drawing frames to convey the empty cans thereto.
 8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said second space includes a movable full can supply path consisting of a conveyer which is associated with said conveying means connected with the drawing frame group to convey the full cans from the drawing frame group to the spinning frame group, whereby the cans are circulated through said first, second and third spaces, the drawing frame group and the spinning frame group. 